Restaurant might sail into Marina Green

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A new restaurant could be in place on Marina Green in time for the 2013 America’s Cup races if the plans are approved in time.

The Recreation and Park Department has forwarded a lease agreement for a 720-square-foot former Navy building on the waterfront to the Board of Supervisors for final approval. The proposal is for a 10-year lease with Woodhouse Fish Co., a family-owned company that has two locations in The City.

Dylan MacNiven, one of the brothers who own the company, told the Recreation and Park Commission his family had kept a boat in the nearby Marina, and the family thought it would be nice to have a restaurant that looked out onto San Francisco Bay, with views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island.

“One day, we were walking by and we saw a sign, and it said, ‘Would you like to put a restaurant here?’” he said.

“And so we took that opportunity, and we are very excited about it.”

The company has proposed upgrading the old Navy building — once used for degaussing, a process of reducing the magnetic field in ships’ hulls to make them less likely to set off mines — which Rec and Park says was given to The City in the 1980s but has sat vacant for decades. The improvements would include exterior renovations, sewer and water system upgrades, and new kitchen equipment. A new patio would also be added for outdoor seating for 50 to complement the 25 seats inside.

The Bay Conservation and Development Commission, a state agency that oversees development along the Bay, has also asked that the building be moved south 13 feet so pedestrian access along the waterfront will be uninterrupted.

The restaurant has proposed $650,000 in improvements, and Rec and Park in turn would offer a rent credit, according to the lease details. The minimum income from the lease would be $110,000 per year, according to department documents.

The supervisors would have to approve the lease with Woodhouse Fish Co. before formal plans are created, which will go through another approval process involving several city and state agencies.